Album Review

Ghosts – The World Is Outside

• 20th Jun 2007

Wait a minute; I think I’ve picked up the wrong CD! Wait another minute; I think I’ve time travelled back to the early nineties! Maybe earlier! Not to dis them in any way, but ‘Ghosts’ would’ve regularly gone top 10 a decade or two ago.

Their sound is an amalgamation of bands like ‘World of Twist’, ‘Blink’, ‘The Field Mice’ and ‘The Lightning Seeds’. It’s horribly fair to say that, as it is to say that they invoke the spirit of 80s pop bands like ‘Johnny Hates Jazz,’ ’A-ha’ and at eye opening, fleeting moments, ‘Dexys Midnight Runners’! What can I tell you! The songwriting itself is great. It’s safely and predictably structured, with jingly keyboard driven choruses. We must try to remember that accessibility isn’t always a bad thing. Refreshing and intriguing enough to keep you listening, though I doubt it’s an LP that you’ll listen to for months on end. Your dad will keep swaying his ever weakening hips to this as he repeatedly hits his already bruised and swollen fingers with that cheap hammer! Beats hearing that greatest hits of the 80s, six CD box set of his again though!

Ironically, ‘Ghosts’ project themselves into our plane of existence using modern images for their LP cover and dress in black suits as they play on a deserted panoramic white sand beach. Very inappropriately sleek. They’re not ‘Interpol’ for crying out loud! And unless they’re gonna re-shoot ‘Radiohead’s ‘High and Dry’ video, I can’t understand how the music fits the image. Not that I expect them to be dolled up in make up!

This really is a strong LP but look to the highlight ‘Wrapped up in Stars’ for a quick taster. Congratulations to ‘Ghosts’ who won me over after a few hesitant listens to their CD.